The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-12-02
THE STORY OF THE PIE.
ITS GENESIS, EVOLUTION AND
ULTIMATE DESTINATION.

FROM me fntddetDltid Record
The evolution of the pie is matter that
possesses much interest both to the diligent
consumer of pastry and the student Of gas
tronomic art. For at least 500 years the pie
has been steadily progressing upward and
onward to its present state of perfection.
and during all these years it has ruled
supreme as the delight of reckless children
and the terror of timid dyspeptlcs. From
the ghly-seasoned venison of old England
tothe modern pie so strangely and wondrous-
ly made is a most interesting transition.
and one which has doubtless proven a bless
ing to mankind. Years of study and care
ful experiment have brought forth COM
bination of crust, meats and fruits truly
wonderful to behold and marvellous to eat.
The pie is thought to be of English de-
scent, and upon this side the ocean the
Yankees have generally been conceded to
he connoisseurs in this special line of pastry
The downeast farmer lad with true intui-
ton, early learns to choose the thin, hard
pumpkin pie from the large aSsort-
ment upon the shelves of his mothers
pantry, and, slipping it under his jacket,
steal away to feast upon it at his leis-
ure. Then, when Thanksgiving rolls
around, the Yankee housewife stores away
countless pies of mince, savory and deecta-
BILE. This is what tradition attributes to
New England; but the supremacy in point
Of quantity is passing steadily Westward,
and away out in Chicago advancing civiiza-
ton and culture have raised the per capita
consumption of pies to point beyond that
claimed by any other city. Right here in
Philadelphia, TOO, the people are not slow to
appreciate the attractions of the pie as q
delicacy, and the daily consumption of these
pieces of pastry is really quite staggering to
one not initiated into the mysteries of their
manufacture.
The intea'. u a big pie factory, four or
five of which az; to be found in this city,
reveals the secret Of the manufacture of
these circular pieces of pastry, and the proc
eSses with which every housewife is
familiar are reproduced upon magnified
scale. Instead of the pans and dishes of the
household kitchens there are huge tubs and
kettles, mighty engines for kneading dough,
and ovens large enough, but much too hot,
for comfortable habitations for small falni-
lies. Pies are still made by hand, as they
were in the days of yore and as they probably
will be constructed in the distant future In
the big kitchen of one of these bakeries
there are several huge kettles of copper
mounted upon brick ovens, and half dozen
muscular cooks stir the settling masses
within. Everything, from the utensils to
the floor itself, is clean and neat, and the
cooked matter is also pure and free from
anything partaking of the semblance of
dirt. Ranged round the room upon low
tables are scores of wooden tubs holding
eight or ten gallons each and filed with
cooked material ready to go into pies.
where the dough is waiting to be
moulded, and then the work of
pie-making begins in earnes5. On
both sides of long table the bakers stand
with dough and filling within easy reach.
A lump of dough is seized, flattened out to
the proper thickness, placed in tin plate,
In goes the filling, on goes the roof of the
pie, and with dash of the hand the edge is
trimmed and away goes the pie to the
mouth of the oven quicker than the story
can be told. Everything is done with
amazing quickness, and in an exceedingly
short time there is a load ready for the
oven. 1t takes about $50 large pies, 240 of
the medium size, or $50 small ones to fill an
oven of the ordinary size, and the length of
time required for cooking varies according
10 the kind of pie.
The catalogue of pies made is quite extern
sive, and there are several brands not found
elsewhere. An authority on pies and their
manufacture gave some points in this line
the other day which are not generally
known to the uninitiated. SAID he: "Here
are the principal kinds of pies made
in this city, apple, lemon, nince,
ralsln, plum, grape, gooseberry.
huckieberry, strawberry, pineapple, peach,
pumpkin, cheeSecake, sweet potato and
custard of various kinds. Apple and lemon
are the best selling pies, and they are in de-
mand all the year round, while many Of the
Others are only made in the fruit or berry
season. Cheesecake and sweet potato are
exclusively Philadelphia notions, and they
are not found in other cities. No dried fruits
are used in this city in making pies, but
when the fruits are out of season canned
goods are used, and the quantity brought
here for that purpose is enormous. Last
week we received two carloads of canned
apples from New York, amounting to about
$4,000 cans. The growth of the pie trade in
this city has been remarkable, and now
Philadelphia ranks as one of the biggest pie
eating cities in the country Taking into
consideration only the families in each city,
there are many more pies made and eaten
here than in New York, in proportion TO
the size of the city. Now we are not only
making pies for city trade, but are also
sending them out of the city. During the
summer we ship thousands of them to At
iantlc city and even to Cape May Last
summer | was at Cape May, and one of the
hotel keepers said that he was afraid he could
not use our pies, as he must have them
fresh. told him that if he wanted could
have the pies at his hotel before they would
become cold. He did not believe that it
could be done. To convince him that it
could be done l sent up to the city and ordered
some pies to be sent down and said that |
wanted them hot, and sure enough, hot
they were when they arrived in Cape May.
cut one of them for the hotel keeper, and
gave him piece that was not vet cold. and
he was convinced. The trade holds about
the same the year round. In the summer
there is bigger demand, Of course for
fruit and berry pies, and when their season
IS over Thanksgiving and Christmas come
along and with them big demand for
mlnce and pumpkin pies.
TO give you SOM idea of the extent of
the business. here are few figures: We
average about 1850 per day throughout the
year, which makes 81 800 pies per week, or
f,5oS, 800 pies for the entire year. In a
single day we use for the average run of
pies 40 tubs of 80 quarts each of fruit, 300
quarts Of milk, Z barrels of -four, 800
pounds Of lard, 400 pounds of
cheese, 30 dozen eggs and various
other ingredients in lesser quantities.
Of course, the materials vary ac-
cording to the kind of pies we make but
these figures represent about the quantity of
material used daily. Now there are three
or four other large pie bakeries, and the
total output from all the large concerns is
about 10000 pies daily. Then there are
hundreds of small bakeshops. and each of
them makes from half a dozen to several
hundred pies, or altogether about $4,000 per
Gay. This makes the total number about
5000 per day, or IL, S35, 900 in year. Some